By James Woite

The Forestville Eagles have responded from last week’s defeat to West Adelaide with a 53-41 victory over the Sturt Sabres at Wayville on Saturday night.

In an ultra-defensive game where neither team would give the other an inch, it was the Eagles who came out on top, with the Sabres unable to exact their revenge for last year’s Grand Final defeat. Eagles star Jessica Mahony had a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds along with 6 steals and 5 assists, whilst also drawing 8 fouls. Despite only going 6/21 from the field, Jess Fergus was also prominent, finishing with 14 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists, as well as limiting the impact of the dangerous Caroline Burgess (16 points, 8 rebounds, 5 fouls). 19 year-old Guard Kelsey Ireland played a vital cameo role off the bench, finishing with 12 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals in her best performance since returning from injury. Mia Newley was held to just 6 points but played her part with 10 rebounds and some excellent defensive work inside. Sturt finished with only Burgess in double figures, whilst suffering through a horrid shooting night, ending the night just 16/65 from the field at 25%, and connecting on just 1/9 3-pointers. It was a disappointing finish for the Sabres, who began the season with 13 wins from 14 games, only to experience a downward slide in the final month and struggle throughout the finals. Meanwhile, Forestville will be looking for back-to-back premierships when they face the Bearcats again at the Dome on Saturday night.

Forestville headed into the game looking to avoid being the second successive minor premier to go out in straight sets whilst Sturt would have been desperate to return to their top form after an uncharacteristic six weeks. The Sabres needed overtime to overcome the Southern Tigers in last week’s First Semi-Final, whom they sat 6 games ahead of after Round 7. The Eagles began the game the same way they had in last week’s second semi-final loss to Sturt – unable to buy a basket. Fortunately for them, Sturt were not on song either as both teams combined to miss their first 14 field goal attempts. The Sabres’ first points of the night came at the foul-line through Caroline Burgess after more than 2 ½ minutes of action, before Forestville Guard Jamie-Lee Bow connected on the first field goal of the night on the following possession. Sturt’s first field goal was also their only 3-pointer for the game; Bree Farley knocking one down from outside with 6.02 remaining in the quarter. The Eagles got the next two baskets through Jess Mahony and Jess Fergus before Mahony picked off the inbound from an unaware Burgess, scoring and drawing the foul in the process. Forestville’s intensity had lifted and Sturt Coach Paul Mesecke was quick to call a time-out. However the Sabres would continue to find the going tough with Mahony and Fergus maintaining their pulsating defence and forcing their opponents into turnovers. The introduction of Kelsey Ireland into the game further fuelled the Eagles, with the second-year Guard knocking down a big 3-pointer and then dishing to Fergus for another long jumper. By ¼ time, Forestville had jumped out to a 17-9 advantage, with the Sabres unable to find any rhythm at all offensively.

Two quick baskets inside in a minute from Caroline Burgess saw Sturt halve the deficit, before two answering baskets from Eagles’ sub Megan Kermond restored Forestville’s 8 point advantage.  From here, the game really began to heat up, as expected with a spot in the Grand Final on the line. Every possession was hard to come by, with all players from both teams throwing themselves at every loose ball and challenging for every rebound, in a bid to win their team the ball. The Sabres got to within 4 on two more occasions, but the Eagles had all the answers and seemed to be able to find the bottom of the net when it mattered most. When Jess Fergus connected on a triple with 1.21 remaining in the half, Forestville’s lead was out to 9 points, their biggest of the night thus far. Fergus stole the ball on Sturt’s next possession but failed to convert the lay-up under pressure from Brooke Sidebottom, with the Eagles unable to extend their advantage to double digits. That’s the way it stayed for the remainder of the half; another basket from Burgess reducing the gap to 30-23 at half-time.

The game took a massive turn in the third quarter with Forestville hitting the wall offensively. The Eagles would not score their first basket of the half until 3.09 remaining in the quarter, when Jess Mahony converted a layup off a strong drive. In the mean-time, the Sabres would score eight points of their own, to take the lead 30-31; their first since the opening minutes of the match. Although neither team really looked likely to score, Monique and Brigid Bowley were a force on the offensive boards as Sturt scrambled some unprecedented baskets. Meanwhile, Forestville could not get the ball inside and their outside shooting was way off the money.

However, when Mahony did eventually get the ball in the paint and score, the momentum suddenly swung back to Forestville. Sturt showed signs of panic at their offensive end, missing several wide open shots, whilst things opened up for Mahony and the Eagles. Mahony dished off to Fergus, who finally knocked one down after five successive misses and then drew a foul before converting 1/2 free throws. When Mia Newley knocked down a jumper to beat the shot clock, the Eagles were suddenly back out to a 37-31 advantage, which would ultimately be the score at the end of the quarter. The Sabres had not scored for more than 3 ½ minutes.

For three quarters, there had been little success on offence for either team and the first few minutes of the last produced no different an outcome. Mia Newley’s basket with 7.54 to go was the only score in the quarter’s first 4 minutes, with both teams showing signs of fatigue and nervousness. However, when Kelsey Ireland drove hard to the rack and scored with 5.56 remaining, the Eagles held a double-digit advantage for the first time and Sturt were clinging from the jaws of defeat. After Newley slipped the ball inside to Fergus for another two, Forestville had scored 13 successive points. The Sabres finally did score through a tough shot from Kara Hargreaves with 4.30 remaining; her first basket of the night, and her team’s first for more than a quarter’s worth of actions.

Keeping a team scoreless for such a period has been a feature of the Eagles throughout this season but to do so in such a crucial game was an amazing effort from the team. Nevertheless, there was still work to be done, and when Hargreaves converted a 3-point-play, the score stood at 44-36 with 3.42 remaining. Following a miss from Newley, Brigid Bowley had the chance to reduce the deficit to 6 but missed the shot, before Mahony converted two free throws to regain a double-digit advantage. Sturt blew two opportunities to again get within single figures, then Burgess fouled out with 1.47 remaining, where Ireland’s free throws gave Forestville a 48-36 advantage. The Eagles got out to a lead of as much as 15, before finishing 53-41 winners.

Forestville’s win sees them through to the Grand Final to face West Adelaide, the team they beat in last year’s Preliminary-Final. The Eagles comfortably beat the ‘Cats in both regular season match-ups before Westies gained the ascendancy early and won the Second Semi-Final 65-53. The Bearcats have been on fire since the return of Sam Woosnam, losing just one of nine games. However, Forestville’s loss in the Semis is their only loss since May 22, whilst winning ten games since that date. The 6.15 match at the Dome promises to be a fantastic encounter between two brilliant sides.